A great season has come to an end. Let us take a look at the winners and losers of this weekend…..
WINNERS
Manchester City
The first ever men’s domestic treble in England is complete. Pep Guardiola’s Citizens flexed their muscles in what looked essentially like a training routine, but was meant to be the FA Cup final.
City demolished Watford 6-0 to be crowned FA Cup champions in the same season in which they lifted the League Cup and the Premier League trophy. Phenomenal.
Bayern Munich
The easiest of games to round off a fantastic comeback and seal the Bundesliga title for the Bavarians, who make it seven in a row. Bayern won 5-1 against Eintracht Frankfurt in their final home game of the season, with both Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery bidding farewell to the Allianz Arena with a goal and with the title.
Niko Kovac was on the brink of being sacked back in autumn, when Borussia Dortmund were miles ahead, but he can now celebrate being the champions of Germany.
Also read: Coppa Italia: Why Atalanta have been so great?
Massimiliano Allegri & Andrea Barzagli
The Scudetto celebrations were the chance to bid farewell to Allegri and to Barzagli. The farewell received by the Juventus coach will go down in history. The Allianz Stadium saluted the man that brought five consecutive Serie A titles, a total of 11 trophies, and two Champions League finals, and they did in style.
Barzagli was an integral part of Juve’s 8 consecutive Serie A titles. He and Allegri both cried, receiving the love of their fans.
LOSERS
Real Madrid
“The best thing about today is that the season is over.” Zinedine Zidane made it clear, as Real Madrid ended one of their worst ever campaigns with a home defeat to Real Betis. Madrid came 19 points behind Barcelona, their worst ever result in comparison to the bitter rivals.
They concluded the season with 18 defeats, their joint-second worst in the club’s history. It really is positive that this season is over.
Inter
In the best position to secure a place in next year’s Champions League, the Nerazzurri are now forced to win their final game of the season, after crumbling against Napoli, losing 4-1 at the San Paolo.
Inter needed two points in their final two matches to get the job done, and bring to a close a season that has had some ups, but too many downs, and has been getting worse and worse since January. A victory against Empoli is now necessary, but seeing as Empoli need a win to avoid relegation, this could be the biggest trap ever for Inter.
The FA Cup
It used to be famous for shocking results, for underdogs making it to the very end, for teams from the Championship stunning the big clubs. All of this was blown away by Manchester City’s superiority over Watford, who are a Premier League club and financially are in a decent place. But, put simply, aren’t City. Watford were destroyed, and so was the magic of the FA Cup.
